Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: nightshot

The Visigoth king Leovigild founded a city called Victoriacum on the occasion of a victory over the Basques in the 6th century. In 1181, King Sancho the Wise of Navarre founded what is now Vitoria with the name Nueva Victoria. This was an extension of the already existing Basque settlement of Gasteiz, which was developed into a fortress against Castile. In 1199, the city was besieged for nine months and finally taken by the troops of Alfonso VIII of Castile, who annexed the city to the Kingdom of Castile. The city was gradually enlarged and was granted city rights in 1431. Today, Vitoria-Gasteiz is a lively city with more than 250,000 inhabitants. At night, however, it is peaceful and quiet.

After a bottle of wine, I was slowly walking home through Albi. It was pretty dark. I was remembering the movie "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" when I saw this glowing millinery shop. So the title changed to "Night in Albi: Secret of the Milliner". But that is another movie.

Mallorca is the largest island in the Mediterranean Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain. Mallorca is an extremely popular holiday destination. The Palma de Mallorca Airport, one of the busiest in Spain, is used by about 30 million tourists per year. Palma is the political and economic centre of the autonomous region of the Balearic Islands. Palma is a Roman foundation from the time the island was occupied by the Roman Empire in 123 BC. Almost half of the island´s population of more than 890.000 today live in Palma. From Between 902 and 1229 the city was under Islamic control. It was conquered after three months of siege in December 1229 by the troops of James I of Aragon ( aka "Jaume el Conqueridor"). Palma became the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca. After Jame´s death, Palma became joint capital of the Kingdom, together with Perpignan. The Aragonese expanded the city, so that at its heyday in the 16th century it had around 40,000 inhabitants. The foundation stone for the cathedral was laid in 1230 by King James I of Aragon (Jaume el Conqueridor) after the conquest of Mallorca in 1229. It was erected in the Catalan Gothic style on the site of a former mosque. Under Jaume II, the son of the conqueror, the actual construction of the cathedral began in 1306 from the main apse. The nave was completed in 1587, the main portal was consecrated in 1601. Work on the main facade began in 1852 and was not finished until the beginning of the 20th century. The cathedral is 109.50 m long and 33 meters wide, the main nave measures 75.50 m length and 19.50 m width. The main nave is 44 m high, which is higher than the nave of Notre Dame de Paris (33m) and Notre-Dame d'Amiens (42m), but lower than the nave of Saint-Pierre de Beauvais, with a height of 48m the highest of all Gothic cathedrals.

Greek settlers from Asia Minor lived here around 560 BC and Herodot mentioned the settlement under the name of "Allalia". Then Alalia became Etruscan, Roman, Carthaginian and after the First Punic War Roman again. This history is common for coastal towns on Corsica. An ancient Hellenistic necropolis was found in Aléria. Little south are still remains of the city walls, the amphitheatre and the forum. In 465 it was sacked by the Vandals, but still in the late 6th century it held a bishopric. In the 13th century, Aleria became of interest to the Republic of Genoa. Over the century the Italian influence grew so strong, that, despite the French and Corsican cuisine, Aléria hosts a nice pizzeria, that is open even late at night.

"Chez Fred" offers pizze in Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban. Even late at night.

The "Belfry of Bruges" is a medieval tower in the centre of Bruges. The belfry was erected around 1240. It caught fire in 1280, but got immediately rebuilt. At that time Bruges was an important member of the Hanseatic League and prospered being the center of the Flemish cloth industry. At that time the belfry housed the treasury and the municipal archives. Of course it served as well as an observation post for spotting fires. Between 1484 and 1487 the octagonal upper stage was added - and for about three centuries the belfry was even higher, - topped by a wooden spire, that burnt down twice and was not replaced finally. A staircase leads to the top of the 83 m high building, many people will remember the belfry (and the narrow staircase inside) from the 2008 film "In Bruges".

On my way home to the hotel late at night, I took a break here. From exactly this spot I had taken a photo just a few hours ago. "What a difference the light makes, just a few little hours....."